Earth surface evolution: a Phanerozoic gridded dataset of Global Plate Model reconstructions

Author(s): Lewis A. Jones and Mathew Domeier

This repository contains the data and code required to generate the materials for the article, “Earth surface evolution: a Phanerozoic gridded dataset of Global Plate Model reconstructions” (Jones and Domeier, 2023).

To cite the paper:

Jones, L.A. and Domeier, M.M. 2023. Earth surface evolution: a Phanerozoic gridded dataset of Global Plate Model reconstructions. (TBC).

To cite this repository:

Jones, L.A. and Domeier, M.M. 2023. Earth surface evolution: a Phanerozoic gridded dataset of Global Plate Model reconstructions. GitHub Repository: https://github.com/LewisAJones/PhanGrids.

NOTE: All reconstructions files are deposited on the dedicated Zenodo repository.

Example of H3’s discrete global grid system. (a) A H3 global grid at resolution 2 (~316.12 km cell spacing). Land masses are depicted in grey, except for Brazil, which is depicted in purple. The grid is illustrated in an orthographic projection. (b) H3 grids overlaid on Brazil at resolutions 2, 3, and 4, which have an average cell spacing of ~316 km, ~119 km, and ~45 km, respectively. The map illustrates the hierarchical nature of the H3 geospatial indexing system.


Data

  • data/ contains pbdb_data.csv, a dataset of fossil collections from the Palaeobiology Database.
  • data/ contains resolution_2.RDS, an example reconstruction file (H3 resolution 2) using the Merdith et al. (2021) Global Plate Model.

Python

  • python/ contains the subfolder plate_models, which contains the static polygons and rotation files for the five Global Plate Models used here:
Abbreviation Temporal coverage Reference
WR13 0–550 Ma (Wright et al., 2013)
MA16 0–410 Ma (Matthews et al., 2016)
TC16 0–540 Ma (Torsvik and Cocks, 2016)
SC16 0–1100 Ma (Scotese, 2016)
ME21 0–1000 Ma (Merdith et al., 2021)
  • python/ contains make_grids.ipynb, which provides a Jupyter Notebook documenting the process used to make the reconstruction grids.
  • python/ contains look_up.ipynb, which provides a Jupyter Notebook which can be used to generate reconstructed coordinates for user data from the reconstruction files.

R

  • R/ contains the subfolder figures, which provides the R code used to generate figures for the article.
  • R/ contains look_up.R, which provides an R script which can be used to generate reconstructed coordinates for user data from the reconstruction files.

References

Matthews, K. J., Maloney, K. T., Zahirovic, S., Williams, S. E., Seton, M., & Müller, R. D. (2016). Global plate boundary evolution and kinematics since the late Paleozoic. Global and Planetary Change, 146, 226–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2016.10.002.

Merdith, A. S., Williams, S. E., Collins, A. S., Tetley, M. G., Mulder, J. A., Blades, M. L., Young, A., Armistead, S. E., Cannon, J., Zahirovic, S., & Müller, R. D. (2021). Extending full-plate tectonic models into deep time: Linking the Neoproterozoic and the Phanerozoic. Earth-Science Reviews, 214, 103477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103477.

Scotese, C. R. (2016). Tutorial: PALEOMAP paleoAtlas for GPlates and the paleoData plotter program: PALEOMAP Project, Technical Report.

Wright, N., Zahirovic, S., Müller, R. D., & Seton, M. (2013). Towards community-driven paleogeographic reconstructions: Integrating open-access paleogeographic and paleobiology data with plate tectonics. Biogeosciences, 10, 1529–1541. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-1529-2013.

Torsvik, T. H., & Cocks, L. R. M. (2017). Earth history and palaeogeography.